


it's time to breathe out

by oneworldaway



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-12
Updated: 2014-01-12
Packaged: 2018-01-08 13:07:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1133010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oneworldaway/pseuds/oneworldaway
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Instinct fix-it. Written and posted on Tumblr just after the episode aired, so obviously it's been jossed by now, but I thought I'd post it here since I wasn't on AO3 yet at the time!</p>
            </blockquote>





	it's time to breathe out

On the road, she replayed their last conversation over and over in her mind. She could still feel Helena’s hand on her back, and the way her heart had sped up as Helena had leaned in at the window.

_Maybe, just…_

For a split second, she’d thought they were going to stop pretending. Maybe just this once. Maybe just one kiss…

Or maybe just coffee, next time. Maybe just a little adventure here and there, with only silence in between. Maybe she was just a diversion in Helena’s life, a distraction on the way to her happy ending in that house with that little girl.

Myka felt foolish for allowing herself even a moment of hope.

 

 

Later, lying awake as daylight approached, she wondered if maybe there were more Helenas out there, more Emily Lakes. Doppelgangers, like the woman she’d met teaching English in Wyoming. A different one in every state. They all had different jobs, went home to different families (different children). They looked like Helena, spoke like her, but they were not her. Maybe the real Helena was still locked away somewhere, like when she was in the Janus coin. Myka would not be fooled by the doppelgangers, like the woman who’d sat in front of her that day and told her she longed for a normal life.

 

 

When they were in Paris, Myka had wanted to visit Christina’s grave. But saving the world had taken precedence, and she hadn’t had the chance to think of it again until the plane ride home, sleeping off the last of her fever. She’d dreamed of what she might have said. 

_Your mother’s been so brave. You would be proud of her._

_I wish I could have had the chance to meet you. You inspire her every day._

_I wish I could have inspired her, too._

 

 

Once, Myka’s father had set up a small display in their shop to honour the birthday of H.G. Wells, “Father of Science Fiction.” Myka was 16; the days her father would read these books aloud to her were long gone. She’d stepped into the shop after school and stopped, picked up a copy of _The Time Machine_. Her homework could wait an hour or two.

It was two artifacts and a bag and a half of Twizzlers after Wisconsin that she asked for a few personal days to go home and gather her thoughts. In her family’s shop, she scanned the shelves for that familiar name - the name of her friend, her colleague, the most confusing and the most brilliant woman she’d ever met. She settled on _The Time Machine_ again, but as she pulled it off the shelf, a small, folded piece of paper fell out onto the floor. Myka held her breath as she stooped to pick it up, already knowing whose handwriting she’d find, but unsure just what the message would be. A time and a place? A phone number? _Look behind you_?

She unfolded the sheet and read,

_I’m sorry, Myka._

 

 

She found her sitting in a nearby coffee shop, pen lying still on a blank notebook page before her, next to an untouched cup of tea. The look Helena gave her was difficult to read, but it changed to confusion as Myka sat down across from her and stifled a laugh.

“What?”

“What would you have done if I hadn’t picked up that particular book?” asked Myka, her eyes twinkling, and Helena knew then that they were alright, they always were.

“Walked back into the shop and found you myself, I suppose.” She smirked. “But you did pick it up.”

“Yes, I did.”

 

 

Pete had noticed the change in Myka’s tone over the phone, but she hadn’t told him anything. She wanted it to be a surprise when she didn’t return to the B&B alone. (Mrs. Frederic had been the one to tell Helena were Myka was, when Helena had called to discuss her return to the Warehouse.)

“Claudia will be happy to see you,” she told Helena, who smiled fondly.

“And I her.”

Myka squeezed her hand. “I’ll be happy, too.”

Helena leaned in and touched her forehead to Myka’s, and reached to cup her face. “ _We_ will be.”


End file.
